ANIMAL TESTNG IN MILITARY DEFENCE

                       Wikipedia defines animal testing as " The use of non-human animals for testing".The most commonly used animals for testing are mice,rats,monkeys,apes,rabbits,etc.They are used for the purpose of testing chemicals and products in industries like pharmaceutical, cosmetic, xenotransplantation, research, education, defence, so on and so forth.
                 

              Testing animals in military defence has been there for decades. This is an area which is unrecognised but have a very devastating effects on animals. Military defence uses animals mainly for developing defensive weapons and vaccines. This testing is used for the development of better surgical techniques for the militants who are affected in war.

DEVELOPING WEAPONS & DEFENSIVE TACTICS:

                  The advent of chemical and nuclear warfare has prompted the defence force not only to test the need for the use of these weapons but also to test the effects of them if used in public. Some of these tests in animals have resulted in introducing nerve agents and chemical burns. The testing animals are even used to predict the damage of explosions and bullets in soldiers. Pigs are used generally for explosion testing whereas non-human primates are used to test the effect of bullet wounds.In addition, sheep and rabbits are used to test the effect of warfare.

CREATING VACCINES:

                  The potential of soldiers getting affected with numerous diseases which are highly contagious and lethal is exponential. Therefore the is a need to develop vaccines for these diseases using animal models for soldiers in war. The other aspect of vaccine creation is to treatment of lethal diseases especially like haemorrhaging (blood clotting) in battlefield.

CONTROVERSY OF ANIMAL TESTING IN MILITARY DEFENCE:

                   The number of animals used in British military defence experimentation has been doubled over the past five years. This has caught the attention of social and animal activists to look into the issue.Animal welfare groups such as People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA) in US have been successful in campaigning against the use of animals in military testing in US.

CONCLUSION:

                     My view point is that killing animals to improve methods and weapons to kill humans is unethical and should be avoided. Animal testing in other areas may be very crucial which is used to enhance and improve human living. Those kind of testing can be done under control and monitoring ofcourse.